


His Paradise

by FlowerFeilds_182



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Bullies, Childhood Friends, Chocolate, F/M, Flashbacks, Growing Up Together, Hurt/Comfort, School, Volleyball, You’re reader but you have a name so kinda OC and Reader because you have a name hehe idk, hints of anxiety, slight jealousy, volleyball camps
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-26
Updated: 2020-11-14
Packaged: 2021-03-08 19:28:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 11,320
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27211963
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FlowerFeilds_182/pseuds/FlowerFeilds_182
Summary: “I dub you king of the flower people!” Tendou felt the softness of the flower crown being set on his hair, he smiled.Flower crowns were his favorite, from the very first crown to the very last crown, he loved them. He loved the happiness that was instilled into them by the crown maker, her loved the soft smiles and the soft bickering that followed as the crown is being woven by expert hands. He loved them as much his his chocolate ice cream, perhaps even a little more. Someday, he’d share his flower kingdom with her, with soft joyful smiles and a beautiful coronation for starting anew.In the heat of summer, there will always be flower crowns to be gifted and coronations to be held.(Spelling errors, incorrect punctuation, incorrect sentence structure, the whole sha-bang in this fanfic. Also may not even continue this.)
Relationships: Tendou Satori/Reader
Comments: 4
Kudos: 22





	1. Chapter 1

I played by our new house, it was in a nice neighborhood, well that's what my mom and dad said. I liked it too, it did kind of feel like home. But I really liked how we were semi close to a grass field with a small forest and stream. I really like how the roads sometimes had dips in them too, because when it rained, little puddles would form.

I smiled and giggled to myself as I splashed around in the puddles, the water was warm and the air smelled sweet with flowering plants and fresh, spring rain. I heard the scuffling of shoes pass by, I looked up, it was a boy.

He was odd looking. He was lanky and tall, tall for our age at least. He could be twelve? I was only ten. He had a peculiar haircut and hair color, a darker but still pretty shade of red fashioned in a bull cut. He had almost tired yet wide looking eyes with an odd red color? Or was it an odd shade of brown? I cocked my head at him.

He wasn't yet wearing a uniform, just in a plain set of clothes, basketball shorts, tennis shoes and a graphic tee.

I waved to him, he scrunched his nose oddly at me, waving back, waving back. He walked up the street, towards me, almost a little cautious?

"Did you just move in?" He asked, staring at me, the stare made me feel uncomfortable.

"Yep," I said, turning around and pointing to my house, it was gray and white like all the other houses, a little compact but good. With a small fence surrounding it and a small bit of yard space.

He nodded, looking at me from my bare toes in the puddle to my damp shirt to my face. I managed an awkward smile, he was definitely a little odd.

"Where do you live?" I questioned.

"Right there," he pointed to a house that was 3 down from mine. He lived close to me, maybe we could be friends?

"My names Sato Keiko," I said causally, I looked up feeling a couple warm water droplets fall from the sky.

"Mines Tendou Satori," such a positive name.

I nodded, it was now lightly sprinkling, it felt nice.

Mom called out to me, I waved to Tendou, "See ya later!" I quickly bowed before running off to my house.

I came bounding in, busting through the door.

"Quiet Keiko, goodness you are so loud!" Mom scolded lightly from the kitchen.

"Sorry," I called out.

"Why don't you go upstairs and dry off and decorate and organize your room?"

"Okay!"

I ran upstairs, and down the hall, looking into my new room. It had a large window with curtains already up and my desk, bed, small dresser and nightstand already out in their place. A couple of boxes were placed to the side.

Thankfully we had unloaded everything last night and even unpacked some, mostly clothes and all the essentials. And so I got to work, well first dried off, then got to work.

After a couple days of playing hookie I finally had to go to school, I did not want to go to school.

I slumped over my desk. The school was big, like any other school. The walls were decorated with colorful little props, from artwork, to stories written by the students and many other things. It was nice. I texted my head against the desk, looking out of the window and watching the sun gradually become brighter and brighter. I shifted, looking towards the doorway and seeing as the flow of kids seemed to thicken, it was getting close for class to begin. A familiar bowl cut head came into view, I couldn't help but to perk up, it was Tendou!

He was lazily scanning the room, his eyes stopping at me. I waved to him, subtly gesturing for him to sit by me. He slowly nodded, a slight tilt to his head as he pulled the chair out from the desk across from me. I smiled a little, at least I had someone I knew.

"Soo-" I began to say.

"Ahhh! Yokai! Still sitting in here with the humans?" A rude boy interrupted, bending down and trying to tower over Tendou, it was a sad attempt, Tendou was definitely taller than him.

I looked to Tendou, why wasn't he saying anything? He was just staring at the kid with passive, emotionless eyes, such a blank expression.

"Go live with the yokai, monster," the kid sauntered away, going to the back of the classroom to a group of snickering boys and girls. He acted as if it was an accomplishment to be mean...

I looked back to Tendou, he seemed a bit sullen. Sometimes I hated people.

"They're jerks," I muttered to him, he looked up his eyes widening a bit from their naturally sleeping looking position.

The teacher came in starting class. We didn't talk much for the rest of the day until lunch rolled around. Some kids got out their bento boxes and others went and got school lunch and came back to eat in the classroom or in another classroom.

Me and Tendou had bento boxes so we stayed together. I opened up my box, mom had packed me last nights rice with edamame, chicken meatballs, with grapes and raspberries.

I looked over to Tendou, he had two onigiri and a couple chocolates. We both ate in silence.

"What kind of chocolate is that?" I questioned, pointing the chocolate in his box.

"Just milk chocolate," I hummed, milk chocolate wasn't bad, "Want one?" He questioned, grabbing a piece and handing it out to me.

I thought, looking at the price of chocolate, I took it from him, "Thank you!" I smiled, popping the chocolate into my mouth.

It immediately started to melt, the strong taste of chocolate seeping and completely covering my tastebuds, it was almost too sweet. I grabbed one of my sour raspberries and ate it with the chocolate, much better. Tendou stared at me oddly, raising his eyebrow.

"It tastes good together," I said simply, handing him a raspberry, he shook his head.

"No thank," I frowned but shrugged and popped it into my mouth.

The rest of the day went okay, a couple worksheets of work here and there, then teaching then some a bit more teaching. It was school. But it wasn't bad.

Me and Tendou walked home together, might as well seeing as how we lived on the same street. He talked more and didn't seem as closed off, he wasn't too bad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First chapter done! It’s super short but it’s a whatever, it’s basically and introduction to the characters and the setting and stuff. Anyway, I didn’t really proofread this so there are probably a good amount of spelling errors and stuff, sorry bout that. Anyway, I hope y’all enjoy this!


	2. Flower Crowns

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Time skip into middle school, going into high school. Lowky fast chapter that I typed up, I kinda like it!

I realized I loved the long summer days.

The ones where the cicadas buzz incessantly, where the sun is particularly hot, making your hair and clothes hot to the touch. The ones where you stay out late at night and yet it's still bright and the sense of déjà ju with the familiarity of it all. Where you run around with your friends and relax on the porch or inside or even at the park sharing a popsicle in hand.

Those are the best summer days.

I watched as Tendou exercised, running laps around the park switching between that, lunges and quick feet. He loved volleyball. Ever sense he'd blocked his bullies spike, he was addicted, like a moth to a flame. That was back when we had just become friends, officially that is, with pinky swears and all.

I sighed, leaning back against the tree that provided me shade. We were almost in high school, I couldn't believe it. It had already been... what? Four years? We had met in 6th grade, I believe. I smiled, time sure does fly.

Tendou sure has changed throughout all of it. I remember his bullies, they were mean. They always found new insults to say to Tendou, always ripping open old scars. But it was like everything had disappeared when he found his talent of guess blocking with volleyball, it was newfound confidence. It seemed that since their victim had grown confidence as well as blocking their ring leaders spike, they simply wanted nothing to do with Tendou anymore.

I was a shameful bystander, too shy and cowardly to stand up for him, all I could do was offer him soft words and the addition of his favorite chocolate. I grimaced, remembering my past actions. I was still anxious with confrontation, but I can safely say I'd spit words right back to the bullies.

He started practicing, looking up videos and even roping me into trying to spike on him. He joined the middle school volleyball team, he was an asset. They made their way from school to school, winning mostly off of Tendou's amazing blocking. But all good things must come to an end, but for Tendou the ending of middle school only lead to something far superior.

Me and Tendou debated and thought on what high school we'd got to together, mulling for multiple days on which high school we'd go to. We both had to go to the school together. Shiratorizawa Academy was our final choice.

He wanted to go because of their amazing volleyball team. I was, for the most part fine with any school that he chose. But I didn't want to go to a school with a dumb uniform, and dumb rules. Plus the school had to have good food. Those were the only things I needed for the school that we chose.

Tendou got in semi easy, with his sport scholarships. But I had to do the entrance exam.

Blasted exam. The studying for it was ridiculous, I had to brush up on even my best subjects. Then there was math. The math portion was hell, I might as well have keeled over had it not been for Tendou relentlessly forcing me to study. And study I did, I barely passing that portion of the exam.

I shivered at the memory, math can suck my ass.

I was ripped out of my reminiscing by Tendou's loud, heavy panting. I looked up, he was all red and sweaty. I laughed.

"What's so funny?" He panted out, hunching over.

"You're all red like your hair and eyes," I laughed, grabbing my bag and digging through it. I handed him an iced satsuma mandarin orange drink, he gave me a look of disdain.

"So mean... don't you have chocolate milk?" I shook my head.

"I heard citrus is good for muscle burning," I quipped, smiling. He gave me a playful sour look.

He plopped down besides me, digging through my bag for his shōnen manga that he had insisted I pack. He made a sound of surprise and annoyance.

"You said you didn't have chocolate milk, Sato-chan!" I smiled, looking over at him.

"I fibbed," I said smiling.

"You're such a meanie," I stuck my tongue out at him, shooting him the loser sign.

He quickly abandoned his citrus beverage for the chocolate milk, happy to drink the chocolate milk instead of the citrus beverage. I grabbed the citrus drink, he hadn't even broken the cap yet.

We sat in silence for a little bit, Tendou's breathing had evened out a bit.

"Sooo... wanna go to the field?" I asked hopefully after taking a sip of the citrus drink, whipping my mouth as I spoke.

"Sure, make me a flower crown though, I love those!" I laughed, nodding my head.

We gathered everything up, throwing away our trash then moseying on our way back to our neighborhood. We stopped by our house to go to the bathroom and put up Tendou's volleyball. I ran up to my room and grabbed an old but good sized blanket and stuffing it into my bag along with a couple more drinks and snacks. I made sure to make Tendou's shōnen manga lay on the outer pockets of my bag so the manga wouldn't get any dents or crinkled pages.

I met Tendou back outside, we made our way past his house and kept going straight until we hit a grassy and slightly wooded patch. The trees and bushes got thicker, then thinner, the soft sound of running water filling out ears. We hopped over the small little stream. We kept on walking until the woody area thinned out and all was left was a large sprawling field with long soft looking grass and wild flowers sprinkled about.

I smiled, I loved this field. It was wide and open and surrounded by trees, I was happy we weren't in the heart of Japan.

"So you've been accepted into the volleyball team then, huh?" I said, filling the silence as we walked through the clearing.

"Yep! The coach was an old guy too, big bushy eyebrows and a little wrinkly and hunch-y," Tendou said with exaggerated movements.

"You think you'll like him?" Tendou hummed.

"Maybe? I think I will, he didn't care much about my technique or reasons for joining! He just wanted my oh, so awesome blocking skills," I smiled as Tendou went on.

He was happy, very happy.

We talked about this and that as we set up our little spot and as I collected wild flowers of all sorts, there weren't as many as usual seeing as how it was summer. But there were still a good amount. I looked back at Tendou, he was laying down on the blanket reading his manga.

I made my back with a bundle of flowers and sat down, I started the crown for Tendou. I included small and big white flowers, many of those and added in blue flowers and even added in some green grass with little yellow accent flowers. After some errors and re-weaving I was done with the crown, it took a little longer than usual. I scooted over to Tendou.

"Come on, sit up," I said, pulling at his hands.

"Ahhh... gravity is too strong!" Tendou laughed, feigning struggling against the gravity. I laughed along with him, pulling even harder. He finally relented, looking at my eyes, his eyes lit when he spotted the crown.

"Tendou Satori, soon to be king of the Flower People," I said, struggling not to giggle, Tendou was dialing at the task, I took a deep breath, trying not to laugh. "I declare you as king of the Flower People!"

I gently laid the flower crown on his gelled up hair, I mock bowed at him, "I am at your service!"

We laid back, laughing, I briefing realized through my wheezing gasps, that this is the best kind of summer day.

The summer days spent with your best friend. Feeling the sun in your skin, the distant noise of cicadas, the refreshing favored beverages. The days where you lay down in a grass field with your friend and weave beautiful flower crowns. Forgetting about the fast approaching adult world and going back to being worry free children.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope ya liked it!


	3. Food and Friends

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again! I’m going to be doing some time skips for the next couple of chapters, this is when they’re in their first year!

"Sato-chaan," I looked over to Yokota.

"Hmm?"

"I'm bored," she whined.

"Hello Bored, I'm Sato Keiko," Yokota threw me an unimpressed look.

"I'm serious... me and Kasai were thinking of going to Sendai or something." She explained, looking at me intently.

"Isn't Sendai a little far?"

"Well maybe... from where we are, about 2 hours by subway?" I frowned, that was a long time considering we still had to get home by a good time. I internally blanched, I stayed up till the wee hours of the morning. It'd be fine.

"Okay... but do either one of you have a car so we can get to the subway?"

"No, but Kasai's brother will drive us and pick us up! His brother was going to go anyway, his girlfriend lives somewhere in Sendai!" I nodded.

"Might as well, it sounds like fun! But Sendai is big, y'know?" Yokota nodded.

"Miss Yokota and Miss Sato, would you like to explain what you were talking about?" Our teacher asked in an annoyed tone, I felt myself grow hot in embarrassment, Yokota just gave the teacher a apologetic smile.

The teacher sighed, shaking his head and going back to explaining whatever we were learning in class. Semi shot me an annoyed scowl, I smiled, making a weird expression back at him. He looked back at me with a plain expression, going back whatever he was working on.

Semi was on the volleyball team with Tendou, he was also a first year. Me and him became friends through Tendou

"Semi is so serious," Yokota whispered to me, I snickered, agreeing with her.

The class passed by smoothly for the most part, then another class then lunch/break time! I went to Tendou's class, peeking in and seeing Semi already with him. I waved to them, plopping down in a seat next to them.

"Yo," I said waving to the two, Semi scowled as he always did.

"Hello Sato-chan!" Tendou exclaimed, smiling wildly, I'd never know how he comes to be so energetic.

"Hi Tendou-kun," I looked over to Semi.

"Semi, such a downer, say hi," I snorted, pinching one of his cheeks, he pulled his face away.

"Hello Sato-san," I beamed at him, he returned mine with a smile.

"Got anything planned tonight?"

I nodded, "Yokota, me, Kasai and his brother are going to go to Sendai!"

"Sendai? Why Sendai?" Tendou questioned, cocking his head to the side and furrowing his brows.

"That's what you and that Yokota girl were talking about during clas," Semi snorted.

"Yes, Semi, and I don't know, I mean why not?" I shrugged.

"Because it's a school night and you'll be exhausted," Semi butted in.

I smiled, "You do care about me!" Semi smiled a little.

"Yes, you are friend," I smiled.

"I haven't done anything in forever, I'd normally hang out with you Tendou, but you're always at volleyball practice!" I said exasperatedly.

Truthfully I didn't do much out of school, sometimes hanging out with Yokota and Kasai, and a lot of the times with Tendou.

"Whaaat, I can always skip here and there y'know," Tendou said, looking up at me with his chin resting on the desk.

"Tendou, the coach will drill you, and Ushijima will give you a lecture," Semi jumped in.

"Who's Ushijima?"

"He's another first year like us, but he might as well act like a third year," Tendou jumped in, "He doesn't react at all to my teasing... fufufu," Tendou pouted.

"His servers are amazing, they're immensely accurate and his spikes hurt like hell to receive," Semi said, back to his scowling.

"Oh? Is he the ace?"

Tendou and Semj smiled, "No, he may be become one in his second or third year though! Coach says he needs more practicing and training," Semi explained.

I nodded, "So you guys are just practicing tonight?"

"Yep, we don't get to split into teams and play with each though..." Tendou mumbled, a disappointed look on his face.

"We're doing high knees, walls sits, running laps and more," Semj said with a pained expression. I laughed, that stuff sucks, one of the nah reasons as to why I don't take any sports.

"And I'll be out in the city, eating food and having fun!" I said grinning.

"You're going to become a snooty city girl, goodbye my childhood friend, Sato-chaaan," Tendou teased, I stuck my tongue out at him.

The rest of the day passed on quickly, Yokota had said to meet up by Mr. and Mrs. Uyeno's store an hour after school. I was pumped to go. I hadn't done anything fun since summer and the beginning of the school.

I made sure to dress comfortably, grabbing a pair of black joggers and a lightly oversized green hoodie, along with my tennis shoes. Before leaving, I made sure to grab a some loose money and my key and of course my phone. I put my money inside a little wallet that hooked onto a lanyard, also attaching my key to the lanyard.

I walked past the school to the convenience store and waited, Yokota still wasn't there, go figures. She's normally a bit late. I sat down on the curb, after about 10 minutes, Yokota came rolling in, shortly followed by Kasai and his brother.

"Hey, hop in!" Kasai said, sticking half his body out of the car. He yelped as his brother drug him back in.

"Idiot," his brother muttered.

Me and Yokota sniggered, opening the car doors and buckling up.

"You can just call him Isao," Kasai said. His brother made an indignant sound.

"Isn't that a little odd Kasai?" Yokota asked, answering my question as well. We weren't even that close to the guy.

"Nahh it's fine," Kasai assured us.

"Don't speak for me, Mam-Mam," his brother teased, I wouldn't call it a tease as much as it was a warning. "Anyway, shouldn't all you be playing high and seek or something, instead of going to Sendai?"

I huffed, he was only a first year in college. He's one to talk.

"Oh ha ha," Kasai mocked back.

The rest of the car ride was a bit awkward, his brother didn't seem all too happy. But things seemed to lighten up towards the end of the car ride, Kasai's brother seemed to lighten up a little too! When we boarded the subway, he darted away, going to the other side of the cart. He was an odd fellow.

"You're brother is something else," is the first thing that popped out of my mouth once we were out of earshot.

"Sato!" Yakota exclaimed.

"Yeah," Kasai agreed, "He's a dick." I laughed, not exactly what I was going for.

"Well... I'm glad he's driving us here and home, it's nice of him." Kasai snorted.

"Hardly, he's just doing it cause our parents are strict. Even in college he's surveyed tightly, the only reason he's doing this is because my parents think he's spending time with me," Kasai finished. I shifted awkwardly, wow.

The subway ride was a little awkward after that, Kasai was obviously holding a bit of resentment for his brother.

"Okay, be back here at 8, by the time we get home it'll be 10. Have fun, do what you do, hasta la vista." With that, Kasai's brother walked off.

"Was that Spanish?" Yokota asked.

"Yep," Kasai answered.

Kasai's brother was without a doubt, odd.

"Well, let's get out of the subway station! I want to go see what all Sendai has in store for us," Yokota exclaimed, grabbing me and Kasai by our wrists and dragging us up the flight of stairs.

"Yokota! Slow down, we've got what, three and a half hours to burn? We'll be fine," Kasai said.

"Oh hush Kasai, I want to go up and see as well, I know you do too!" I said giddily.

We emerged from the subway station, bright lights and tall buildings surrounded us. The smell of food wafted through the air, making my mouth water, as well as the normal city smell, which isn't always great. A lot of the buildings were also business and law firms, but there were also casinos and places to drink and eat.

"Huh, this is pretty cool I guess," Kasai said, nodding his head slowly as he took the scenery in.

"Well, let's go eat! I'm starving, where do y'all want to go?" Yokota asked, grabbing her phone and looking up places.

"I could go for something a little warm and spicy," Kasai said, his stomach grumbling.

"Curry? Ramen? Oooh, what about a hot pot?" Oooh... curry and ramen sounded the best to me, hot pot was a bit of a last resort for me, it's good, but nowhere near as good as ramen and curry.

"I could actually go for some ramen," Yokota said, "there's a restaurant a little ways down from here, it's rated pretty good." She turned her phone screen to us, showing the restaurant reviews.

"I'm in," Kasai said.

"It's decided! Ramen!"

We made our way down to where the ramen restaurant was, entering the establishment. It was what you'd expect, a relatively quiet place with a simple but fine interior. We talked about this and that, trying to keep our noise level down. We eventually ordered our ramen, savoring the savory taste of the broth and the firmness of the noodles coupled with the scallions and egg on top. Well I did at least, I also got a piece of pork in my ramen, the others got their own thing. The whole experience was enjoyable and light with bliss.

Sometimes I wish I didn't go home to an empty house. It's lonely, it's also odd. Coming from somewhere that's so full of life and energetic energy to an empty house. When we had just moved here, my parents jobs needed them to go onto a work trip. It wasn't bad, not at first. But one work trip turned into more and more. Then they were gone for longer and longer and then they seemed to hardly be home.

I was happy that they came to spend holidays with me and my birthdays, they said no matter what, I'd never spend a holiday alone. It's just enough. They also always send me allowance money for taking care of myself and getting food and get little things for myself. I would be able to take care of myself just fine if I had a job, but the school prohibits jobs...

Almost everyone seemed to be in the same boat as me, what with the parent things. I guess that's why so many of them stay in the school dormitories, Tendou and Semj were even thinking of moving into the dormitories next year. The dorms sound nice... but they aren't home, even if my home was quiet and still, most of the time.

"Sato, you're thinking deeply again," Yokota said, leaning against me and pulling at my hair.

"Blehhh, I'm fine, so what's planned next?" Kasai nodded, looking expectantly at Yokota.

"I don't know, maybe go get some strawberry crepes and go into some random shop?" She looked at us, waiting for our response.

"Sounds perfect!"

A crepe stall wasn't hard to find, they seemed to be everywhere! I got a strawberry crepe as did Yokota, and Kasai got a chocolate crepe.

"Mmmmm, this is sooo good," I groaned, ughhh it was amazing!

"Jesus Sato, this seems personal between you and the crepe," Kasai joked, taking a large bite of his crepe, Yokota giggled I opened my mouth wide watching as disgust ran through their faces.

"Sato! Disgusting! Eww," Yokota exclaimed, shutting her eyes and turning away. I laughed at her reaction, Kasai joined in. "You people are so... gross!"

We laughed and joked around, eventually finishing off our delicious crepes. We wondered around for a bit going store to store, none of us really choosing to buy anything, we eventually had to go back to the subway station.

"Y'all are so much fun," I smiled to them.

"We know we are," Kasai said, trying to act cool.

We fell into a comfortable silence as we waited for Kasai's brother to come back. We waited for 30 minutes, and then we saw him. I kissed my teeth in an attempt to hold my scowl towards him, he was 30 minutes late!

"Relax your face Sato-chan, you look pissed," Yokota whispered, I sighed, breathing and trying to relax my muscles. I could tell that Yokota was a little irritated as well, he was our ride home.

"Shhh, you sound pissed," I gently threw back at her, she rolled her eyes in a good natured manner, knowing I was also right. 

"Ugh, you smell like sex, Jesus Christ," Kasai exclaimed, frowning at his brother.

"Shut up, Mam-Mam," Kasai glared at him, he turned to us.

"Sorry, shoulda known that he'd do this," Kasai muttered, obviously a little embarrassed. I quirked a small smile, it was fine I guess.

We boarded the next subway, the subway we had planned on getting on having already left. We waited an extra 40 minutes then boarded. Everyone was quiet the ride home, we were all worn out with all the late night activities.

We got off and then got into Kasai's brothers car, Yokota fell asleep, I followed shortly after. I was shaken away by Kasai, I hummed blinking slowly.

"Your stop, we dropped you off at your house, Yokota is already at her home." I nodded.

"It was fun, and thank you Isao-senpai for driving us," I said before getting out and opening my gate and unlocking the front front door and turning back to wave at the two. I shut the door behind me, locking it and letting out a large sigh.

I kicked my shoes off, and plopped onto the couch. The silence is almost deafening.

My phone rung, I groaned rolling over onto my back and looking at the caller. Tendou Boi Satori. I answered it, putting it on speaker.

"Sato-chan!" I hummed, I felt sleepy, "Hahahaha you sound so sleepy, Sato-chan gets sleepy so easily," he teased.

"Ugh, how're you so chipper after the workout and this late at night?" I asked, rubbing my eyes.

"Jealous?" He asked.

"Never," I said, getting up and walking to my bathroom.

I turned my microphone all the way up, grabbing a washcloth and turning on the hot water.

"What're you doing?"

I rubbed the hot clothe on my face, pumping face wash onto my finger tips and gently scrubbing my face.

"Washing my face, you?" I asked, washing the soap off and pat drying my face. I got out my toner and cotton ball, rubbing it over my T zone.

"Reading."

"Your new manga?" I asked, grabbing my moisturizer and gently rubbing it in.

"Yep," I grabbed my tooth brush and tooth paste, squeezing it on then brushing my teeth thoroughly.

"It's good I'm liking it, the author is saying there's still waaay more that he hasn't drawn out! There's this character, his names Fundo and he just joined the Gnashing Teeth gang, I think he's a spy from the Fire Spitters!"

"Oooh cool!" I said, accidentally spitting toothpaste everywhere, I groaned, grabbing my used washcloth and wiping it up.

I turned off the bathroom light, going to my room and turning on my lamp, I flipped onto my bed, bringing the covers up to my nose. We sat in silence for a while, I felt sleepy, almost on the verge of falling asleep.

"We should go to Sendai sometime, you me and Semi," I said softly, thinking out loud.

"That would be fun, we could eat food! Go to the different stores! Oooh, and Sendai is near the sea, we could go there for a day trip, we'd have to get yo really early of course!" Tendou added on excitedly.

I hummed, closing my eyes, slowly falling asleep.

"Good night Keiko-chan," Tendou whispered, I breathed in.

"Goodnight Satori-kun," I whispered back, waiting a second before hanging up. I plugged my phone up and shut off my lamp, turning my on fans, I snuggled back under my blanket.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you liked the chapter! It’s a little slow right now, I know lol. But there are tiny barely there hints of Tendou and reader! Oh and sorry if there are spelling mistakes I proof read the chapter when I was half alseep!


	4. Summer Showers

The house smelled of sweet lemon and bleach, a soft breeze flowed through the windows. I scrubbed bathtub, making sure to coat everything in the lemony cleaning solution.

I felt like cleaning, I don't know why, it was two in the morning and I can feel the sleep tug at my eyes. I just wanted to clean, the soft rumble of thunder sounded, then the soft pitter patter of rain followed. I sighed, getting up and opening the bathroom window. The soft smell of rain flowed through the window, softly mingling with the lemon cleaning solution. I stuck my hand out, feeling warm rain hit my skin. I shook my hand off, gently closing the bathroom window.

I washed out the tub, then started on the floors and countertops, eventually washing all of the cleaning solution off into the drain. I shut the bathroom light off, washing my hands and re-tying my hair. I moved on to vacuuming the whole house, making sure to get every corner, then emptying all of the dirt and dusts into the garbage.

By the end of all the cleaning I still felt restless, I sighed, closing all of the windows and locking them then turning off all the lights and heading to my room. I plopped down onto my bed, looking up at the ceiling, I looked at my phones home screen, it was 3:30 in the morning.

I frowned, yet another sleeping in day. School didn't start up for another month and a half so it was fine.

I slept in till 2 the next day, the sun was high in the air and my room felt stuffy. I rolled over on my back, sighing, I felt incredibly useless and lazy. I slowly got up, going to take a warm shower and clean up then opening the downstairs windows. A soft humid breeze rolled in, the smell of rain came yet again. It was humid out, the ground was still drying from the little rain we had last night.

I lounged on my couch, turning on some random show.

The sun was slowly but surely disappearing, getting covered by the slowly graying clouds. I grabbed a soft blanket as a chilled breeze ran through my living room.

I let my mind wonder, memories flooding my brain from my first and second year.

The first year was fun and easy, I made friends, we had fun and went out. The tests were easier, the pressure wasn't yet on. We had fun, I sometimes attended Semi's and Tendou's practices and even went to some of the matches with other schools. They were formidable, only stopping a game short of nationals.

The game was intense, the boys were buzzing with excitement at the thought of going to nationals. The whole room was tense, watching each spike, dig, and block. They were neck to neck the whole game, the other team had barely won the last round. I remember the tears.

The third years tried to put on a tough front as tears slid down their sweat soaked faces. The first and second years cried, they were hopeful but lost just shy of two points. Tendou and Ushijima didn't cry, they knew that their time would come.

I also remember the late nights, sometimes they were stressful for no reason. I cried myself to sleep on several occasional, feeling useless and pathetic and a waste of space. That only happened every couple of months then I was okay.

Other nights were wonderful. I remember going out in mid December, feeling the cold and hit my face, breathing in its freshness and looking to the bright moon and barley present stars. I felt so at peace those nights.

My second year was more stressful, more work, more tests, and more quizzes but my friends made the stress melt away when I was with them, so it was okay. It helped some that we didn't have much homework unless we slacked off in school. We mainly needed to study. A lot of studying. On another small bright side, I grew closer to Reon, Semi and Ushijima.

I also remember watching Tendou, Semi, Reon, and Ushijima and wondering how they did it.

They were rising the ranks of their team. And gaining coverage as one of the rising power schools. They worked countless hours on improving their volleyball techniques and training with their team till eight at night and still they seemed to breeze through school. I truly envied them, they made school look easy.

But it wasn't easy. It wasn't easy for almost anyone. Ushijima was an exception, intelligent, athletic and incredibly strong and still growing.

It was in the middle of the year, I remember it so vividly, being surprised. Tendou was struggling on his Japanese and English, and Semi was having a hard time with his math, they had asked for me and Reon and Ushijima's help. I helped Tendou with his English and Japanese, I was no wiz when it came to math, Reon and Ushijjma were however.

I was happy to have friends like them, and I grew all the more comfortable with the four. I asked for extra help with my math, as I was struggling severely. Once I asked and warmly received the help from the others, everything became easier. It was like I had taken a breath of fresh air after being under water.

We'd work and study and help each other then have fun, joke and eat and play games. Sometimes some of the boys would bring of their girlfriends and other times I'd bring over my friends, it was fun.

The rest of our second year passed by without a hitch after that revolution. New people joined the school, some of which joined the volleyball club, Tendou and Semi talked about them, seeming to have taken a shine to the newcomers.

We also finally went to Sendai, me Yokota, Kasai, Tendou, Ushijima, Semi, Reon and Yamagata. It was fun, we went to a place to eat, wondered around, bought random knick knacks and had fun. We also went to the beach, it was a small beach but one nonetheless, the smell of the salty brine of the ocean was amazing and the widnes of the sea was breathtaking.

The sudden growl of thunder and the shaking that followed shook my out of my daydreams. The living room was significantly darker, the main light source being the glowing of the TV. A howl of wind tussled my hair about, causing papers to flutter around the living room, some slipping outside.

I quickly hopped up and slammed the windows closed, making sure it lock them tightly and closing the blinds. I turned back, going over to the stand and turning on one of my lamps. I watched tv and scrolled through my phone until it hit about six, the storm was raging outside.

The wind was howling angrily, whipping the house with rain. Lightning seemed to dance across the sky in brilliant flashes to the thunder that bellowed up in the sky, it scared me a little, but having mom and dad gone so often led me to just dealing with it.

I got myself up and started the rice, then started boiling some water. I added some dashi bits, letting it boil in the water then taking it out and adding the a heaping handful of katsuobushi and letting the katsuobushi steep for a minute or so then straining it out. I grabbed my miso paste and strainer and rubbed and kind of dispersed the miso paste through the strainer. Finally adding the tofu and letting the pot simmer.

I moved onto a small cut of white fish I had in the fridge, I washed the fish and seared it in a bit of oil and searing the fish until cooked. My mouth water and the smell and appearance, it was perfectly crispy and would easily fall apart.

Grabbing a ladle, I spooned the miso into the bowl, making sure to grab some already chopped scallions and wakame and topping the soup with the two. I then shut off my rice cooker and spooned some into another, larger bowl and put the fish pieces on top.

I ate while watching the show, enjoying the soft flavors of my meal. After I was done I put my leftovers in glass containers and cleaned the dirty pots and pans and wiped down the countertops. I searched through the cabinets in search of melatonin, finding the little bottle and popping a few pills in.

Melatonin almost always was sure to knock me out after a couple hours, I needed to get my sleep schedule in check. I had plenty of time to correct my schedule but I felt lazy sleeping in till two in the afternoon.

Like clockwork, after a couple hours I was tired. I washed my face and brushed my tooth, turning off all the lights in the house and lying down to sleep. I woke up early that morning, early for me at least, it was nine in the morning. I looked up at my ceiling as I seemed to do every time I wake up.

I got up and made myself an easy breakfast of just cereal and milk. I washed my face and brushed my teeth. I put on some tennis shoes and a light jacket with basketball shorts on, then grabbed my lanyard with my house key and went walking.

The sun was still rising, the air felt calm and fresh with a small tinge of humidity to it. I walked up to the field, the ground was still muddy from the raging storm from last night and the shade felt cool and humid. The field was green and lush with new grass and flowers, it smelt of grass and flowers. I walked through the large field, gently brushing through the delicate new grass and the budding flowers.

I would definitely have ticks afterwards, I smiled, I'd always failed to realize that when I was younger and even failed to realize it in my first year of high school. Me and Tendou would be covered in ticks. I'd come home and wouldn't realize I was covered in ticks till I took a shower and saw all the little "moles" over my skin.

Me and Tendou learned early on how to properly get the ticks off without leaving the head in, cover it in vaseline as soon as you see it. The vaseline deprive the tick of air and loosen the tick, then you pop it out. You always want to leave your clothes outside for a bit and immediately take a shower to wash off any of the stragglers. I don't like ticks but I do love the field and the stream.

I picked a couple older flowers, a few strange red flowers I'd never seen, white, yellow, down small pretty blue flowers and grass. I weaved those together into a small, thin little flower crown, placing it atop my head for safe keepings. I picked a couple more, mainly made of grass made with a few accent flowers. I walked through the field a bit more, feeling the suns heat increase.

I started my walk back down to my house. It was peaceful not being in school, not having to worry about anything aside from a small bit of studying.

I stopped at Tendou's house, knocking on his door. After a few seconds Tendou answered, his hair was down. His bangs were held back but a long click, it was all puffed down fork not having in gel in it. He was wearing a simple hoodie with his volleyball shorts on, with long socks with some shonen protagonists printed.

"Satooo-chan! To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?" He said bowing, his hair flopping. I laughed.

"An amazing crown!" I said happily, he stood on one knee, bowing his head, I placed the flower crown gently on his head. Grabbing both sides of his face and tilting his head upwards. His sleepy eyes looked up at me, shining a brilliant dark red, I smiled, feeling affection warm my chest.

"Well thank you, what are you doing up so early, you're normally such a lazy bones," he teased, standing up and ruffling my hair.

"Ah, I decided to stop feeling lazy."

"Wanna come in?" I hmmed.

"Nah in fine, I need to take a shower and look for ticks, you should probably check the crown," I said smiling as he faltered looking up at the crown on his head, "just soak it in some water, it should be fine!" I called, waving to him and walking back to my house.

"If I get a tick I'm blaming you!" He yelled down to me. He knew he may end with one or two, we always got them, even from the freshest woven flower crown. That was the small price to pay with something to pretty and delicate.

I laughed loudly, unlocking the door and kicking my shoes off and stripping as soon as I got inside, I threw the clothes off and put them in the small basket out on the porch, immediacy the heading off to the shower. I checked myself for ticks, only finding a couple crawling, none yet having attached to me.

I looked at myself in the head, gently taking off my grass crown and placing it out in the cool hallway. I didn't want it to wilt in the humid air of the bathroom as I shower. I quickly showered, making sure to scrub off the small layer of sweat on my skin and scalp.

After I was done I dried off and changed into clean clothes, taking the dirty towel and the crown in hand and going down stairs. I threw the towel in the dirty basket and threw the clothes in the washer, not yet turning it on, it wasn't full yet. I checked the crown, looking for little bugs and ticks.

I soaked the crown in water, watching as little bugs crawled out, floating to the top of the water. I gently threw the water out onto the concrete and gave the crown a final rinse. I put it on top of my head, looking at it through the reflection of the microwave. It looked nice, I nodded, smiling.

I wondered back outside going back to Tendou's place. I knocked on his door, he opened it again, looking the same as he did only half an hour ago.

"Can't get enough of me?" He said, resting on the door way.

"Oooh yeah, you're simply addictive," I joked back, Tendou returned a Cheshire smile to me.

"Come on in," Tendou waved his hands inward. I followed him, skipping my shoes off. We went to the living room, I sat on the opposite couch of him.

"It's going to storm again today," Tendou said. I groaned, I loved storms and all, but god were there a lot.

"Seriously?"

"Yep! You know I remember when I first met you, it was raining, well starting to sprinkle more than anything," I was so small then.

"I remember as well, it was so long ago," I said, reminiscing.

"Hardly, it feels like it was only yesterday," Tendou leaned back in his chair.

An unusual silence passed over us, normally Tendou is talking nonstop. Something was up, something that I knew was coming.

"You're moving the boys dorms aren't you?"

He looked to me, a surprised look on his face, he nodded, "Yeah, I wanted to last year but... y'know," I hummed, nodding.

It sucked, I wouldn't see him as much as I normally would. I knew he wanted to move onto the dorms the second year but he was still a little hesitant.

"Well I hope you'll have fun! You'll still come over to my house right?" I could only muster a a small fake small.

"Of course, I know you'll miss me a lot Sato," I laughed, I would but it'd be fine.

"Oh yes, of course, ahh I'll miss you dearly," I said, jumping over to the couch and slouching over him. He looked away, looking to his manga, "Aww won't look me in the eyes," I teased.

"Nope, I just got to an interesting part, idiot," I looked down at his manga, I snorted.

"A kid eating ice cream is interesting?" Tendou seemed to deflate, "I'm kidding, don't worry."

I stayed by him, taking out my phone and playing some random game. Sure enough, the later it got, the darker and darker it became.

The first rumble of thunder came, then another lower rumble. I got up, moving away from Tendou to peak out the window and sure enough it was starting to rain heavily, the heavy pitter patter of rain fell on Tendou's house. I plopped back down to Tendou, he looked at me briefly before going back to his manga. I peeked at him, he was handsome... you couldn't deny it. I couldn't deny it.

The storm seemed to be getting worse, I sighed, I felt comfortable. I didn't want to get all wet and cold.

"You can just stay the night," I looked over to Tendou, I smiled.

"You sure?"

"No of course not, yes you can stay dumb dumb," I smiled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so this chapter is a bit stiff and awkward and oh there’s a major time skip. I honestly feel like writing out the rest of the first and second year would be a major pain and a bit unnecessary. Anyways, things should start to progress a bit faster now, I hope you enjoyed all of this! And sorry, there’s no doubt a bunch spelling errors, and wording errors, sorry bout that.


	5. Sadako

Tendou had allowed me to borrow one of his gray hoodies, the hoody absolutely swallowed me. It hung down to my mid-thigh, but I liked it. It was warm and soft and smelled of cedar and rain. He owned a lot of hoodies, and I had a creeping suspicion as to why... though I didn't yet have concrete evidence, I'd keep the suspicion in the back of my mind.

The storm was still raging outside, thunderous booms came every now and then, then strikes of lightning lighting up the sky. It was nasty out.

I looked back down to Tendou, I gently clipped his hair back, hearing the click of the clip.

"Gimme your crown," I said, opening and closing my hand. Tendou turned around, crown in hand and swiping it out of my reach.

"What do ya say?" He asked with a smirk on his face, I rolled my eyes.

"Oh, please give me your flower crown, that I made," I made sure to emphasize the word "I". He handed it to me, going back to watching the anime he chose to watch.

"Only because you asked so nicely," I yoinked a couple strands of hair from his head, eliciting a yelp. "You're so mean Satooo."

I rubbed the spot where I pulled at his hair, "Better you big baby?"

"Ahhh much better!" I snickered, delicately placing the flower crown on his head and clipping it into his red hair.

"You look pretty as a prince," I said, turning him around, a lazy smile adorned Tendou's face, his sleepy eyes even more relaxed. I smiled, pinching his cheek lightly. He swatted my hand away.

"Now you! You'll look like the bell of the ball once I'm down with you!" Tendou pulled me down off the couch and sat me on the ground.

He snatched the crown off my head, I handed him the rubber bands I had that were wrapped around my wrists. I felt him attempt to part my hair down the middle of my head, thing one part of my hair into what seemed like a messy bun. He seemed to be struggling a great deal, I couldn't even do my hair all that well. He moved on to the other section of my hair, taking just as long if not longer putting my hair up. I felt him clip my crown into place, it felt like it was tilted back a little bit. Tendou adjusted it a couple times before he seemed satisfied.

I felt him turn me around as I had done to him, "Awww Sato-chan you look so cute," he cooed at me.

"Blegh," I stuck my tongue out at him, not really knowing what to say, I felt my ears grow hot, how embarrassing...

"Hahaha, you're getting flustered!" Tendou teased, poking my cheeks, making my ears and face feel even hotter.

"Am not." I flipped around, pinning him to the couch, I looked down at him, clear surprise written in his face, "Now who's flustered?"

"Not a soul aside from you Sato-chan!" I groaned, rolling off of him onto the other side of the couch.

"You're so boring..." I said chuckling, I looked over to him, he was smiling as well, a dream like smile curved onto his lips. Another crack of fire shook the house, the outside lighting up. We both flinched, having forgotten about the storm outside.

"Think the power will go out?"

I shrugged my shoulders, "I don't know, the storm sure is mean though," as I said that, the wind howled angrily, whipping the rain all across the house.

"Want to watch a movie?" Tendou asked curiously.

"What kind of movie are we talking about?"

"The Ring," I frowned... oooh I was not good at scary movies.

"The Ring?" I asked dejectedly.

"Yeah! The actress who plays Sadako is pretty cute too," I groaned. He's such a sap for cute actresses.

"Okay, but if I have nightmares after this movie I'm blaming you." I pointed an accusing finger at him, watching as his face lit up like lights on a Christmas tree.

And so we started the preparation for the movie. Tendou started popping the popcorn and got all the snacks and drinks ready. I gathered up the blankets and pillows, closing all of the blinds and checking the locks. I settled myself on the couch, propping my feet up and burrowing into the corner of the couch. Tendou came in with a big bowl of popcorn with drinks and candy, setting the bowl and stuff between us. I reached over to my lamp, shutting it off, Tendou did the same with the lamp on his side.

And so the movie began, immediate I felt creepy vibes off of the video. I huddled even closer into the couch and wrapping the blanket tighter and tighter against me as each film played. I anxiously ate my popcorn, the butteriness of it coating my mouth and my finger tips.

"This is creepy..." I whined to Tendou, he seemed a little.

"Don't worry, it's just a movie, don't be a scaredy-cat," Tendou whispered back.

I closed my eyes as the movie continued, as well as the creepy noises and music that ensued. I willed the hour and whatever to go faster. Time seemed to drag by, I glanced up at the screen, instantly regretting it. Sadako was on the screen. She was creeping forward, with her long black hair hanging down in front of her face and her pale, scaled skin. I cringed, instantly closing my eyes and huddling underneath the blanket even more.

The ending couldn't have come fast enough, the end credits rolling down the screen. I grimaced, I'm glad that I had blocked most of it out and didn't watch that show.

I wearily reached out of my covers to turn on the lamp, anxious to see if there were any figures in the dark corners of the room. The light clicked on, spreading its warm flow to all the dark, uncertain corners of the room, nothing. I breathed a sigh of relief, I looked over to Tendou, he seemed a little creeped out but nothing else.

"Like the movie?" I questioned curiously, watching his expression closely.

"It wasn't too bad, I'd say you didn't like the movie Sato-chan," Tendou looked at me with a relaxed but teasing expression. I nodded my head.

"I... it was creepy."

"A little, but not too shabby," he said, seeming to attempt to reassure me but also critique the movie.

We ended up migrating upstairs to his room. I breathed a small sigh of relief, remembering he slept on a futon. Not a bed with box springs and such where you could peak underneath the bed. I grabbed one of the futons from the closet, having spent many nights at his house when I was younger. We settled down side by side, both of us playing on our phones.

I lied there, next to Tendou. I suddenly was dreading going back gone alone, I had seen some creepy videos when I was younger. After calling my parents over and over every night I eventually lost my fear of the entity and legends. Now fresh fear seemed to be festering inside my gut... I don't want to go home alone. Where the shadows lurk at every corner and where there's no one inside the house aside from myself.

"Tendou..."

"Hmm?" He turned his face towards me, his red hair shifting with his movements.

"That movie... it's creepy," I admitted, hugging myself tightly.

Tendou sighed, scratching his head, twisting his lips into a grimace. "Sorry... I shouldn't have pushed you to watch it," he cracked a small, guilty smile.

I gave him a wobbly smile back, I didn't want to go back home alone. For now I was with Tendou and not alone, so it's okay.

I put my phone down and snuggled deeper under the soft sheets, sighing and closing my eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp here it is, I’m kinda bogged with school and shit so I’m starting to run on low XD. It’s a pretty short chapter, sorry about that, I may do this chapter, and part of the previous in Tendou’s perspective, second person of course! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, there are probably some spelling and wording errors, sorry bout that!


	6. Childhood Memories Part 1

At a young age Tendou became familiar with the word 'monster', monster? Why was he a monster? Was it because of how he looked? Or maybe how he acted? How should he act?

He wasn't normally, Tendou realized. He wasn't normal looking or normal acting. But what was so abnormal of him? At eight, Tendou wondered that aloud as he did his school work in his room with the window propped open and a chilly breeze passing by. He scrunched his face, he didn't like people. They are mean and shallow and two faced. He liked his family, they loved him, they didn't make fun of him. They are the only exception.

Tendou became somewhat familiar with a boy. The bully. The kid who picked him out within the first couple months of kindergarten. The kid who stopped at nothing to poke fun of Tendou, even when they weren't in the same class together, the spiteful kid got his friends to do his dirty work. Tendou came to learn who the kid was, Tagata Genki.

He did not like Tagata Genki.

Tagata Genki didn't like him either. He got most of the grade to gravitate away from Tendou, saying spiteful words like, "He's creepy," and, "He's a yokai in disguise,". The teachers turned a blind eye to Tagata's antics as well as the kids general coldness to Tendou. It was okay though. Even if his chest ached sometimes, and he felt his throat close up and become sore with a bit of frustration and sadness. He was fine.

One of the main solace's Tendou found was chocolates, the candy and the ice cream. It made him feel better and it simply tasted good. Another solace was manga. Other than that Tendou was just lonely, he was okay with the loneliness. He really was, he didn't want to spend it with some faker at school.

Then there was a boy. He introduced himself as Bana Jiro, but his friends called him Jiro. He had said Tendou could call him Jiro. For the first time in a while, Tendou thought that maybe not all kids were mean. Tendou was happy, Jiro and him were going to be friends. It started out to fun and natural, but there was something that told Tendou to be weary of Jiro.

He ignored the feeling in his gut, his gut and the way he perceived people were almost always right. Sometimes they were wrong though, so maybe this time, his gut feeling about Jiro was wrong. Besides, Jiro was nice. He complimented Tendou and had a lot of the same interests as Tendou! He even liked chocolate ice cream!

"You're just a yokai, you don't even belong here in the human world," Jiro muttered. Glaring icily at Tendou, walking away, towards Tagata and his friends. Tendou bit the inside of his cheek, he tasted a familiar copper taste in his mouth, he could never get the taste out when he lost his baby teeth.

He smiled, nodding, walking home. Tendou felt his chest ache and felt his throat close up, he really should have trusted his gut. He blinked back tears as they welled up in his eyes, stupid. Tendou walked home, his mom and dad not yet home, he took off his shoes and did his homework, pushing the incident to the back of his mind. Faking was relatively easy, his mom and dad were perceptive though, so he'd have to try extra hard.

Dinner was being made, the smell of homemade curry flowed through the house. Tendou felt his stomach grumble, but didn't feel hunger, the thought of eating made him want to puke.

That night he ate dutifully, showing his teeth as he always did at the table and smiling to his parents. When the moon was high in the sky, he cried, he cried into his pillow. He pinched himself, trying to muffle his sobs, he was tricked. Why didn't he listen to his gut. He'd rather have stayed alone than have been friends with Jiro. He'd rather have stayed along than have those couple of friendly, happy months with Jiro as his friend. He wasn't even friends with Jiro, Jiro never even felt the same.

Many scoops of chocolate were sneaked that night with even more of Tendou's chocolate stash were eaten that night. The next morning he acted as though nothing was wrong, the feelings will die. The feelings of hurt and betrayal will die.

They never died.

It was his fifth year. He was still alone. But at the end of the year, where the rainy season started something happened. It had started out normal enough, new people had moved, Tendou didn't care much. They were just people. He brought his umbrella with him on his walk to school, it was misting in the morning. The overviews of school droned by, Tendou did his work dutifully and with ease, well except Japanese he had a bit of difficulty there.

Then he set out back home, it wasn't raining bad enough to use his umbrella so he stuffed it in his bag. His mom would scold him for doing so, but he didn't feel like holding it. He walked back home, stopping when he saw a figure crouched down in the road.

He walked closer, he needed to anyway, his house is about three houses down. Then the person looked up, a girl. She seemed a little shocked, cocking her head to the side, but waved to Tendou nonetheless. He walked up cautiously, waving back, she must be the new neighbor.

"Did you just move in?"

She girl nodded, "Yep," she turned around at pointed the the house behind her, gray and white like all the other houses.

Tendou stared at the girl, she was soaking wet and barefoot, with rocks and grit on her feet and her hands. Her hairs was damp with rain and she had a slightly uncomfortable smile on her face.

"Where do you live?" She questioned, then scrunching her face oddly as if regretting her question.

Tendou quirked his lips, "Righ there," pointing three houses down. She 'ahhed', a moment of uncomfortable silence passed.

"My names Sato Keiko," the girl, Sato pipped, clearly a little uncomfortable with the silence.

Tendou watched as Sato raised her head to the sky, a ghost of a smile on her lips, "Mines Tendou Satori."

The silence seemed to stretch even longer, neither of them making a move to talk or move elsewhere. Thunder seemed to break the tension, making Sato and Tendou flinch then giggle a little.

Then Sato's mom called, making Sato flinch a little, "See ya later!" She said, bowing quickly then running back to her home.

That was odd, Tendou thought.

Tendou stood there for a little longer, before he decided to walk home. His mom fussed over him as well scolding him for sticking his umbrella in his bag, he smiled a little, apologizing. The rest of the evening went on normally, Tendou did his homework, played a couple of games, ate dinner with his mom and dad and had his chocolate ice cream for desert. After dinner, Tendou's mom and dad went into their office to work more.

The next couple of days were normal, the girl, Sato had yet to have arrived to school yet. There was no word of a new girl yet, Tendou was a little disappointed. He didn't know why, the last time someone was nice to them, they practically spit in his face.

Then suddenly she was there, she was slumped over the desk with a bored look on her face. She instantly brightened when she saw Tendou, she waved at him, with an almost uncharacteristic shyness to her. Tendou, she gestured for him to sit by her, which he did. Genki passed by after he sat down, taunting him with his still spiteful words, Tendou didn't react. However, he saw Sato look at him in confusion, Tendou couldn't help to wonder what she was confused about.

The rest of the day went smoothly, they shared a bit of their lunch and stuck close for that day. At the end they ended up walking side by side back home.

Tendou, despite his efforts to not grow hope for another friendship, grew closer and closer to Sato, she seemed nice and honest. Nonetheless, Tendou was still terribly weary of having the same thing happen again like with Jiro. The wounds having never truly healed. He knew he needed to get over it, but the first friend he really had, practically spit in his face.

The two grew closer and closer over the months that they had met. It was summertime now, the air was hot and humid, the buzz of cicadas in the air. Tendou laid on the smooth rock shore of the clear cold stream that Sato had insisted they visit. The shade was a relief, it was cooler in the shade but still humid. He lazily watched as Sato wadded knee deep in the water, picking up random rocks and sticking them in her pockets.

"What do you think you want to be when you grow up?"

Tendou looked up again, he hummed, "I don't know, maybe I'll be an ice cream maker!" Sato laughed, nodding her head.

"Will you be a chocolate ice cream maker?"

"Of course! I'll make the best chocolate ice cream ever!" Tendou exclaimed, smiling.

Sato nodded, smiling, "Will you make me some someday?"

"Nope... of course you dummy, you're my friend!" He smiled, reassuringly at Sato's pouty face.

She laughed, "You're awesome!"

Sato wadded up next to Tendou, emptying her sopping wet pockets of rocks. She inspected each one carefully, tossing some back into the stream, making a plopping noise. Then saving others to look at more closely.

"Why do you look at them so closely?" Tendou asked curiously.

"Cause they're pretty and interesting! Look at this one," she shoved one in his face, "it's all sparkly and shimmery." Tendou looked closely, it was, though it didn't really catch his interest. She inspected all of the rocks, weeding out the more desirable rocks opposed to the plain rocks.

Sato only had a couple left, she grabbed Tendou's hand and out one in his hand. She smiled, plopping down next to him and closing her eyes. Tendou opened his filled palm, it was a small clear little crystal. It was pretty, and it did actually catch his interest. Tendou looked over to Sato, her breathing had evened out, a faint blush from the heat still on her cheeks.

"Thank you," he whispered quietly, playing with the crystal and watching as the sun slowly set. It had to be almost four by the time Sato woke up from her nap. Her eyes were glossy with sleep and her cheeks still held the faint flush from the heat. "Sleep well?"

"Mmmm, yeah thank you," Sato's voice was soft and scratchy.

Tendou hummed in response, putting the crystal Sato had given him away. He got up, stretching his stuff muscles and offered a hand out to Sato, she clasped his hand, letting herself be pulled up. They walked home in silence, the toll of the summer heat heavy in their bodies. They said their 'good byes', parting.

At the end of the night Tendou pulled out the clear crystal Sato had given him, putting it in his night stand and staring at it. He turned over and closed his eyes, letting sleep overtake him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well here’s an insider on how Tendou’s childhood may have gone. I actually had a fun time writing it! I hope you enjoyed as always!


End file.
